Type writing machine



(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

' J. RICHARDSON.-

. TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

No. 554,730. Patelited Feb. 18, 1896. y

ATTOR N EY ANDREW n GRAHAM Pnuru UIMQWASHINBTOILUC 5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J]. RICHARDSON. TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

Patented Feb. 18, 1896.

INVENTOR WITNESSES:

{No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. RICHARDSON. TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

'No. 554,730. Patented Feb. 18, 1896.

, llllllllllllllilllllli (No Model.)

5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

J. RICHARDSON. TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

' Patented FebQlS, 1896..

ANDREW BYGRAHAM PHOTO'LIINO.WASHINGTON.OC

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

J. RICHARDSON. TYPE WRITING MAGHINE.-

No. 554,730. Patented Feb-18, 1896.

I 0" mn WITNESSES: INVENTOR TORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES RICHARDSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

$PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 554,730, dated February 18, 1896.

Application filed May 25, 1893. Serial NO- .l'YEAlB. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES RICHARDSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lVriting-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to writing-machines, and has special reference to the class known as wheel-machines, wherein the type or characters to be printed are located upon a wheel or cylinder capable of being turned upon its axis by the operation of keys to bring a letter into position to be printed.

The invention comprehends general improvements throughout the entire machine and introduces new principles in the operation, which impart, among many others, the qualities of simplicity, lightness, positive action, minimum type movement, speed, uniform letter-spacing, close or open at will, variable word-spacing for justification of lines, paper-feeding corresponding to width of letter, and a locking of the type-carrier during press action.

The invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan of the complete machine. Fig. 2 is a plan of the under side of the same. Fig. 3 is a section taken on line a: a; of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a section taken on line y y of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the keys and mechanism operated directly thereby. Fig. 6 shows detailed views in plan of the combination spacing and printing plates, edge views of which are shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the combination-plates. Fig. 8 is a perspective View of two keys and the mechanism operated thereby to determine the letter or character to be printed. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of one key and the mechanism operated thereby to do the inking, printing, and spacing. Fig. 10 is a section across one end of the paper carriage and rod. Fig. 11 is a side elevation of the paper-carriage rod and its mountings. Fig. 12 is a detail of a portion of the inking and printing mechanism, and Fig. 13 is a detail of the impression mechanism.

All the parts of the machine are supported represented by the letter a.

upon a single horizontal plate or frame A, which may be made continuous or in any design of open -work. The keyboard, typewheel, and paper-carriage are located above this plate, while the mechanism which transmits the movements from the keyboard to the type-wheel and paper-carriage is located mostly underneath the plate.

A peculiar and important feature of this machine is the movement of the type wheel or cylinder to bring the letters into printing position, and this feature of the invention will be described first. The key-levers are There will be one for each lower-case letter printed and as many more as may be desired for supplementary groups of characters. They are shaped like bell-cranks, all being pivoted at the angle upon a common axis supplied by the rod a, which is suitably supported in end brackets, and between the levers washers are interposed to give working accommodation and prevent friction. The levers extend directly forward from the axis through the teeth of a comb-like bar a which serves as a bracingguide, and in which are located springs a Fig. 3, resting beneath the levers to counterbalance or hold them in their normal positions. From the bar a the levers spread to the right and left, fan-like, to accommodate the finger-pieces and give them sufficient individuality. Below the axis the ends of the levers extend downward in front of the frame, their outer edges being substantially vertical and all in the same plane. They are entirely free, being without positive connection with any other part or parts of the machine except the common pivot-bar.

In front of the lever-pivot and parallel thereto is a shaft a supported in brackets This shaft forms one side of arectangular frame a which hangs therefrom, its lower side standing in front of and across the keylevers. The frame being rigidly connected with the shaft, the latter rocks when the former is swung. Between the brackets a the shaft is surrounded by a loose sleeve (U, which forms one side of a second rectangular frame a depending therefrom, with its lower side also extending across and in front of the key-levers, just above the lower side of frame a". These frames, it will be observed, are

free to swing on their axes independently of each other, their excursion being limited and controlled by their connection with the arms of the sector, to be described hereinafter. The lower sides of the frames are provided with fastening devices, such as screws a" or clips, by which interchangeable plates to a may be secured thereto. These plates have their edges formed in a certain manner to cooperate with the key-levers in determining the character to be printed, the method of which will be described hereinafter.

Y) represents a sector of gearing pivoted horizontallyupon a base I) fixed to the under side of plate A, Figs. 2 and 3. arms I) and b on opposite sides of its pivot and at right angles to a central radial line. Arm 1) is connected with frame a by rod 1), and arm I) is connected with frame a by rod If. Vith this arrangement it will be observed that a pull on I) throws sectorb to the right, and a pull on b throws the sector to the left, with a corresponding swing of the hanging frames when the rod 1) and b are connected therewith. Immediately in front of the sector is a vertical shaft 0 having one bearing in a bracket 7)" and another in a bracket-head b above plate A. This shaft has fixed upon it an elongated pinion c in engagement with the sector, and the movements of the sector are thus imparted to the shaft. On its upper end the shaftcarries a small disk 0 having a pin 0. The type-wheel is represented by C. It is a cylindrical shell fixed on the upper end of shaft 0 by means of the screw passing through it and entering the center of the shaft, and the pin 0 passing through a hole in the shell to lock it to its axis. The bracket-head b has a solid cylindrical surface which loosely supports the sides of the type-shell, and in this surface is fitted a small antifricton roller 0 which bears against the printing part of the cylinder and opposes the press action thereon.

Referring now to the plates a and a carried by the respective frames a and a the edges of these plates are graduated or formed with corresponding notches or projections, as shown, both of which plates are struck during the movement of the key, either in succession or simultaneously, depending upon their relative positions before the key starts. The swing of the frames individually is at most just sufficient to throw the sector its own length, one from right to left, the other from left to right. The edges of these plates a and a are graduated, so that the sum of the movements caused by any key is equal to the extreme throw of the frames, diminished by the amount cut from the edges of the plates. hen any key has made such a movement of the plates, bringing both into contact, its motion is stopped by the opposing action of the plates, whose travel has determined the position of the sector and thereby the letter to be printed. The actual throw of the plates by any key at any time is equal to that frac'.

It has two ment. Its action is rather saltant, forward or back to any position from any other, the amount and direction of its movement at any time depending on the relative positions on the type-cylinder of the letter last printed and the letter next to be printed. Thus, supposing, and for illustration, the types to be set in alphabetical order-not the best order, but the familiar one-the types and movements involved in printing, say, the word letters would be these: Depressing the 1 key would shift the type-cylinder forward or back, as might be necessary, the distance required to bring the letter 1 into position for printing. Releasing the key has no eifect upon the typecylinder. It remains unmoved until another key is touched and another type position called for. Key e shifts the type-cylinder from 1 to e, or seven spaces toward a. Key t carries the type fifteen spaces z-ward to t. Repeating t calls for no type movement. e carries the cylinder back fifteen spaces, 1' forward thirteen, s forward one space.

If followed by another word, say soon, the printing of s would call for no movement of the types, the desired letter being already in position. To print 0 a movement of four spaces is required. To repeat 0 the key does not alter the position of the type-cylind er. 11 moves it one space. Thus in printing the entire word the type-cylinder has been moved only five spaces, or five twenty-sixths of one turn, provided, of course, that there are twenty-six characters in one row around the type-cylinder. In printing the same word under like conditions a rotating wheel would have to make four turns or an aggregate of four multiplied by twenty-six, equaling one hundred and four spaces. Similarly, an oscillating wheel, if it returned to a at each excursion, would have to be moved two (19+l5+15+14) spaces, or one hundred and twenty-six spaces.

Another point to be noted is that as soon as a letter is brought into printing position the type-wheel is locked from movement in either direction by the key-lever which is resting against both opposing plates (0 and a, and this lock continues during press action and so long as the key remains depressed, Hence when a letter is repeated the only effect which the key has upon the type-cylinder is to relock it.

The advantage of the saltant movement in this machine is not limited tothe lessening of type travel above illustrated and the consequent saving in time and labor. Still greater advantages accrue in reducing the momentum to be overcome in stopping the wheel and in obviating the necessity of working against the power needed to carry a rotating wheel forward to a or an oscillating wheel back to the point of starting at each excursion of the wheel. The type-shell starts and stops but once for each impression instead of twice, and not at all when a letter is repeated. Thus there is a further reduction in shock and strain of action, lessening by more than fifty per cent. this element of the work.

The notches or points upon the combinationplates a and a, as shown in the drawings, are arranged along two oblique lines on each plate for simplicity in construction but each pair of contacting points or notches may be located at any position upon the plates, the types upon the cylinder, the combinationplates, and the keys being arranged with respect to each other. By grouping together upon the type-cylinder the letters which are most used a large part of the printing may be done by very short excursions of the type-cylinder. hen the arrangement of type on the cylinder is altered by substituting a different cylinder, it is a simple matter to remove the combination-plates and adjust others.

I will now describe the inking and printing mechanism. Immediately below the angle ofthe key-levers are located two pivoted frames d and d. The former is rigidly fixed to a piv otal shaft (1 mounted in brackets (i and the latter is fixed to .a loose sleeve d surrounding the shaft between brackets. Frame d controls the inking and press mechanism and frame d controls the letter-spacing of the page. The bearing-face of frame (Z is held normally against the keys, so that it will be moved the full stroke of the key. To the frame (I is fixed a rod diwhich leads forward and is connected with a short crank-arm d, loosely pivoted upon a stud d fixed to frame If. The same crank carries a pawl (Z the tail of which is adapted to be engaged by a screw cl". Upon the same stud with the crank is also pivoted an arm (1 having a notch (Z adapted to be engaged by the pawl (Z and to be held in such engagement by a spring (Z until the pawl is tripped by the screw (1 Forward of the frame 12 is fixed a vertical slotted guide-plate e, the slot 6 in which extends nearly its full length and at its upper end is bent slightly to the roar. Upon one side of this guide-plate is fixed a reciprocating bar e held between clips 6 which allow it to move slightly sidewise. This bar carries two pins 6 and e projecting through the slot in the plate 6. Pin 6 carries an antifriction-roller against which arm (Z bears, and between pin 6 and a pin 6" on the guide-plate is connected a spring 6 The upper end of the reciprocating bar passes through an openin g in plate A and carries an ink-pad 6 which when the bar is in its lowest position stands below and just in front of the type-cylinder. In this position it bears against a small inking-roller 6 Now every time a key is depressed frame d is moved outward, thus causing arm d to swing upward through the engagement of pawl d and lifting bar 6 and its ink-pad into position in front of the typefaces. As soon as this position is reached pin 6 on the bar runs into the bent end of the slot, which carries the pad against the face of the type. When this is accomplished, the tail of pawl d comes in contact with screw 61 and disengages the arm (Z thus allowing spring 6 to quickly withdraw the inking-pad to its lower position. The play between the clips e and the bar allows the ink-pad to make this swinging movement against the type-faces.

Upon the shaft with the inking-roller is a ratchel-wheel e engaged by a pawl e on the end of a pivoted lever 6 This lever extends through the plate A and has a fork on its lower end which embraces a pin 6 carried by a rod m. The rod is connected with frame d, so that with each movement of a key the lever e is vibrated forward and back and the inking-roller rotated slightly. An ink-fountain may be arranged to supply the ink-roller in any suitable way. The rods d and mare acted upon by springs m and c1 to impart a reverse movement after the key stroke. \Vhen rod d returns, the engagement of pawl d with arm (Z is effected before the reverse movement is finished, the normal position of the pawl being ahead of the notch, as indicated in Fig. 12, thus allowing the operator to begin the action of a following key before the return of the previous key is completed.

The paper-carriage and press action will now be described. Immediately in front of the type-wheel and extending across the machine is a shaft g mounted in centering bearings consisting of pointed screws g passing axially through fixed cylindrical lugs g located at the edges of plate A. These lugs are of the same diameter as the shaft and their axes are in line with that of the shaft. They are connected with plate A by a thin web, as shown in Fig. 11. The shaft is provided throughout its entire length on its under side with a key 9 having a greater thickness than the webs connecting the end lugs with the plate. A finger or bracket 9* is positively connected with the shaft and extends downward through an opening in the plate A and carries a small pawl g standing closely adjacent to the reciprocating bar carrying the inking-pad. The last-mentioned bar, besides having the attachment referred to, also carries a pin g which is adapted to engage with pawl g when the said bar makes its vertical movement. hen the bar moves upward to ink the type, the pin passes in front of the pawl and the latter swings, permitting it to pass without moving the projection g but on the return stroke the pawl is held by a stop g and acts as a cam, forcing the projection to one side, thus rocking the shaft. When the pin has cleared the pawl, spring g which presses constantly against the back of the projection, rocks the shaft back to its first position.

Upon the rock-shaft the paper-carriage is adjusted. It consists of a platen 71 fixed to a shaft h, which is mounted in end brackets 7L2 and 71. respectively. Outside of brackets 715 the platen carries a gear-wheel H", which engages with another gear (not shown) on a second shaft 71, located directly beneath the platen and mounted in the same brackets. This last-mentioned shaft is covered with a sleeve of rubber, which bears constantly against the platen, and between this shaft or roller and platen the paper is gripped. The journals of the shaft 7: are pressed upward constantly by springs 7L (shown in Fig. 10,) which maintain a constant pressure between the two rollers, whatever the number of thicknesses of paper held between them. The platen-shaft extends at both ends and carries thumb-wheels 7v, by which it may be rotated at will. To the rear and in front of the platen continuous strips 1' 'i are arranged to guide the edge of the paper squarely to the gripping-point between the rollers and to lead it out in front of the platen. A frame, consisting of a rod 1 arranged parallel to the surface of the platen, and two curved end pieces i", is pivoted to the strip i and is acted upon by springs to turn the paper backward over the top of the platen and hold it taut against the same, thus presenting a smooth paper surface directly opposite the type-cylinder. To the lower ends of the brackets 7L2 h is rigidly secured a split tube j, the opening being along its under side.

This tube is adapted to pass freely over the end lugs g and the rock-shaft g. The split tube presents asmooth internal s urfaee which accurately fits upon the rock-shaft, and the edges of the tube embrace the key on the under side of the shaft. In order to feed the paper forward a regular distance between lines I have fixed a ratchet-wheel to the platen, which is adapted to be engaged by a pawl is, pivoted upon an arm 71: the arm being free to turn upon the platen-shaft and provided with a spring 7:5 to move it in one direction. The tail of the pawl has a slot in which a fixed pin 7;, Fig. 10, stands. hen the arm If is tilted backward by the finger of the operator, the point of the pawl engages at once with the ratchet-wheel, because its opposite end is thrown upward by the pin in the slot, the platen is rotated and the paper fed a distance substantially equal to the length of the slot in the pawl. When the finger releases arm spring 713 carries it back and the pawl is lifted out of engagement with the ratchet by the pin, thus leaving the platen perfectly free to be turned in either direction any desired distance by manipulating the thumb-wheels on the end of the platen shaft.

The press or printing action is obtained by the rocking of shaft g in the manner before described. The shaft is rocked toward the type-wheel near the end of the period in which the inking-pad is returning to its lower position. The edge of the split tube on the papercarrier is thrown forward sufficiently to bring the paper in contact with the type presented on the typecylinder. It will be observed that this movement of the paper-carriage is caused entirely by the action of the spring 6 attached to the ink-pad bar. The finger of the operator first stores the power in this spring, which is then automatically tripped by the release of the pawl (1, as hereinbefore described, and the spring then acts independ ent of the operator.

The paper-feed or letter and word spacing will now be described. The frame (1 has before been referred to. It is connected with arod m,which leads rearward to a short crank m on a short shaft m passing through plate A. Above the plate this shaft carries another short crank m, which pivotally carries at its extremity a pawl on". On the back of the split tube forming a part of the'papcrcarriage a rack or is cut, with which the pawl. normally engages. The pawl is acted upon by a spring on, which tends to hold its point in engagement with the rack, and a spring m acts upon the crank tending to hold it against the tail of rod m. A pin m is fixed in front of the pawl to limit its forward movement and to clamp the pawl and rack so as to prevent the momentum of the paper-can riage from carrying it beyond the point desired. Every time a key is pressed down the pawl is drawn backward, and when the key is released spring on draws the pawl forward the same distance the key forced it backward, thus feeding the paper along that distance. Ordinarily in writing-machines this feeding distance is the same for all letters, whether it be for an mor an i,and consequently it has been customary to contract or distort the type so that all of them will approximately fill the prescribed letter-space.

It is one of my objects to be able to use the conventional printers type-that is, type in which the letters n1, w, dye, shall have their full width, and all the letters shall occupy only as much space upon the paper as their faces require, with uniform spaces between the letters. I accomplish this by providing a variable automatic feed which moves the paper in each instance the proper distance to accommodate the letter printed.

cl is the letter-spacing plate. Its forward edge acted upon by the keys is provided with a few notches and projections, which are diversions from the straight edge forming the greater portion of this side of the plate. It will be observed that the two keys which strike the projections 0 will swing the plate a ITO greater distance than any of the others, and

correspondingly the feeding-pawl will'be moved back a greater distance when these two keys are'operated. Therefore the m and w keys, respectively, are placed in front of these projections. The notches 0 are in front of the keys f, i, j, l and t. These cause the pawl to be moved the shortest letter-space. The remaining letters being of intermediate size, such as n, o and s, require a movement of the paper between these extremes, and the straight portions of the plate accomplish this. The feeding of the paper which occurs after the letter is printed is in all cases sufficient to cover the space occupied by that letter plus the uniform spacedesired between the letters, the latter being variable at will by means of the turnbuckle at m The regular spacingkey is represented by'r' and it acts only upon frame (1. Its extreme throw is limited by set-screw 'v to make the customary space between words uniform. The length of this throw can be diminished by the operator and the spacing lessened by one or more notches by varying pressure upon the key.

In order to make the paper-carriage as independent as possible of the remainder of the machine, so that the operator may readily shift it back and forth from one position of a line to another, means are provided for throwing the feed-pawl out of connection with the rack. Key q is 011 the end of a vertical shaft passing through plate A and equipped at its lower end with a cam q working in the slot of a plate g fixed to slide upon the under side of plate A. The cam is double faced and engages with the opposite ends of the slot. lVhen the key is pressed down the plate is drawn to the rear, and when the pressure is removed from the key spring g lifts it and forces the plate forward again. The plate extends to the rear edge of the machine and carries a pin g standing immediately back of the tail of the pawl m When the plate is pulled forward the point of the pawl is drawn out of engagement with the rack, thus leaving the rack to be moved free from one side to the other at will.

It will be seen that the paper-carriage is quite independent of the remainder of the machine. It may be removed entirely by the simple operation of sliding it off the rod, and, as just described, it may readily be moved from one point to another upon the rockshaft. An important feature of the carriage also is the fact that the printed matter is always in unobstructed view of the operator and may be inspected without any manipulation of the carriage. Each machine may be equipped with two or more paper-carriages having platens of different character for manifolding or otherwise.

Capitalizing and the printing of numbers and punctuation-marks will now be described.

I prefer to arrange the characters upon the type-cylinder in three rows, the lower-case letters being in the upper row of the cylinder, the upper-case around the lower edge, and the numbers and punctuation-marks around the middle of the cylinder between the other two rows. When the characters in'the second or third rows are to be printed, the typecylinder is lifted until the row containing a particular character is in the position normally occupied by the lower-case row of type. Two keys are provided for lift-ing the typecylinder, 8 and 15, respectively. They pass through plate A and operate upon a pivoted lever 12, which carries a fork at its forward end embracing and located in an annular groove in shaft 0. When either of the keys is depressed it strikes this lever and throws the shaft and type-cylinder up. Key 5 lifts it until the row of capitals is presented at the proper place and keyt lifts it until the row of punctuation-marks and figures is presented. Then it is desired that either of these two rows of type be used continuously, the cylinder may be locked in the desired position by means of a sliding bar a fixed to the under side of plate A and provided with off-sets a, which pass under and lock the heads on the lower ends of the keys according to the movement of the finger-piece right or left. When an upper-case type is printed, the paper-feed should be greater on the whole than for lowercase type, the face of the type being wider. I have therefore provided means for further modifying the feed automatically whenever a capital letter is printed. This consists of the bent end 1) of lever 19, which enters an opening m in the feed-rod 972. When a capital letter is printed the lower end of key 8 in lifting the lever 19 carries the latter against the lower limit of the opening m and alters the point of connection between the rear end of rod m and frame d, thus increasing the throw which the movement of frame (1 is capable of imparting to rod on and correspondingly increasing the feeding distance. This connection between the rear end of the rod 'm and the plate d is a pin in the rod working in an inclined slot formed in an attachment m on frame d. hen the pin is in the upper end of the slot it is nearer the pivot of the frame and therefore makes a shorter stroke than when in the lower end of the slot. It will be observed that the keys 3 and t are so placed that they may be struck by the thumb while the customary finger is depressing the letterkey, which, without the thumb action, would print the corresponding small letter. In this way there is no loss of time or extra motion in shifting to or from capitals.

As before observed, the regular spacing-key operates upon the frame d only, and if this key is forced downward to the full extent of its stroke each time a uniform space will be made, but an operator may quickly become sufficiently expert in the use of the spacing key as to be able to diminish the stroke to make the space as much less as he may desire for the purpose of justifying lines.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In, a writing-machine, a rotatable type wheel or cylinder and its shaft, a pinion on the shaft, a pivoted sector of gear meshing with the pinion, two rods connected with the sector on opposite sides of the pivot, and two movable plates or frames to which the rods are attached, all in combination with a bank of key-levers, each of which is adapted to engage and move one of said plates or frames until it is stopped by the other.

2. In a writing'machine, a rotatable type wheel or cylinder and its shaft, a pinion on the shaft, a pivoted sector of gear meshing with the pinion, two rods connected with the sector on opposite sides of the pivot, and two swinging plates or frames to which the rods are attached, all in combination with a bank of key-levers, each of which is adapted to engage and swing said plates or frames, the point of engagement between each key-lever and the plates being determined by the direction and distance which the type wheel or cylinder is to be rotated, substantially as described.

In a writing-machine, a reciprocating ink-pad, in combination with a key-lever, a system of levers connecting the two, a spring and a trip whereby the pad is carried positively against the face of the type by the keylever and removed therefrom, by an in dependent agent.

4. The combination of the key-levers, rod (1, moved thereby, pivoted arm cl pawl (1 adapted to engage with said arm, the reciproc ating ink-pad bar engaged by said arm and the spring 0 acting in opposition to the arm,

for the purpose set forth.

5. In a writing-machine, a striking paperplaten, in combination with an, ink-pad, the latter having a motion to and from the type and provided with a clutch whereby it en gages with the paper-platen on its return movement.

6. In a writingqnachine, a reciprocating ink-pad bar operating in one direction by the keys and in the other by a spring, in c0mbination with a striking paper-platen and means whereby the bar when retracted by the spring operates to move said. platen, as set forth.

7. In a writing-machine, a cylindrical or segmental type-carrier having a rotary motion upon its axis, in combination with a reciprocating inking-pad moving toward and away from said type-cylinder, a striking paper-platen and keylevers with connections whereby the type on the cylinder and the inking-pad move simultaneously into operative positions and the paper-platen is moved simultaneously with the return stroke of the inking-pad.

S. In a writing machine, a rock shaft mounted at each end in axial bearings located in fixed cylindrical lugs of the same diameter as the shaft and whose axes are in line with the axis of the shaft, in combination with a paper-carriage loosely embracing said rocleshaft and adapted to slide longitudinally over the fixed cylindrical lugs, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I subscribe my signa ture in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES RICHARDSON. Witnesses:

FRANK S. OBER, V. A. OPPERMAN. 

